Scotland: Single malt whisky through the producing distilleries: history, making and tasting

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Glann ar Mor

Texte français
Glann ar Mor

Distillerie Glann ar Mor
Crec'h ar Fur
22610 Pleubian
France
+33(0) 2 96 16 58 08

Owner: Celtic Whisky Compagnie (Jean Donnay)

Creation date : 1999
(first distillation December 31, 1999 (this was before the distillery was completely ready to run with its own potstills))
This first distillation produced a very limited number of bottles Taol Esa ("try", in Breton)
Internet sites:

Glann ar Mor

Celtic Whisky Compagnie

Bottles

A whisky distillery in Brittany

Brittany has a very limited number of whisky distilleries. This is a kind of paradox, as we know that the Irish monks invented whisky, and as many Irish monks have visited Brittany through the ages. The weather conditions are good, with temperate summers and winters without frost, the sea is nearby, in brief the ideal conditions for the blossoming of Breton whisky.
And indeed, several distilleries seem to have been active in the area in the olden days.

Crec'h ar Fur

The name of the place called "Crec'h ar Fur" near the small town Pleubian, where the distillery is settled means "The hill of the wise man". As Jean Donnay does not live alone on this hill, the question is "Who is the wise man, Jean or his neighbour?". I'm personally convinced that such a nice distillery upon the cliff could not have been built without the the great wisdom of Jean Donnay.

Glann ar Mor


The distillery is called "Glann ar Mor", which means in Breton "Seaside".
A hard job has been done for about ten years to build the distillery which would produce its first "new make spirit" in June 2005.Glann ar Mor: condenseur à serpentin All this years have been devoted to research and experimentations in order to create a great whisky, but also to make all the alteration works this old farm needed to become the nice small distillery it is now.
Making decisions about the shape and the size of the stills, finding water for the mashing but also for cleaning the installations are just some of the needed works in the preparation phase of a new distillery.
There are no pictures of the distillery installations on this page (apart from the serpentine condensers which are outside the distillery) because the owner prefers no pictures are taken inside his distillery.
The distillery is made from just one room, where the washbacks (in Oregon pine), the to onion shaped stills (with a capacity of 1300 and 900 litres ) and the tanks where the new make spirit is stored before being transferred in Bourbon or Sauternes casks.
The whole is brand new. The plans of the stills have been made by Jean Donnay, and they were build in France.
The malt used for making the whisky comes partially from North of France. This malt is not peated.
But the distillery uses some peated malt as well, but the latter is imported from Scotland.
The alcohol vapours coming out of the still are slowly cooled in a serpentine condenser. The length of the serpentine is about forty meters.

First distillation with the new stills happened on June 12, 2005 at 5:06 PM

Celtic Whisky Compagnie

Before distilling whisky, the Celtic Whisky Compagnie specialized in whisky finishes in selected first refill casks.
The Celtic Whisky Compagnie was a pioneer in double maturations in wine casks, like Monbazillac, Cadillac, Sauternes or "Vin de Paille du Jura". The characteristic of this finishes is that the emphasis is on the effects of the finishing cask on the whisky rather than on the origin of the whisky itself. This philosophy helps to guarantee the whisky supplying regardless of the stocks and the will of the individual distilleries. The production area is mentioned on the bottle, not the producing distillery.
All this finishes are single casks, which means that the Celtic Whisky Compagnie can run out of stock for a given kind of maturation.
The second maturation takes generally about one year.
The marketing is made through a network of retailers, and the bottles are not available in supermarkets.

Celtic Connection

Finished in a Monbazillac cask

Distillation date
19-3-1993
Origin of the whisky
Highlands
First cask
(Bourbon) Traditional oak. The first maturation is made in Scotland, using the traditional methods favouring the use of Bourbon casks. The aging is responsible for the general balance and the the smooth character which will change the rough alcohol coming out of the still in whisky.
Second cask

(Monbazillac oak) The second maturation is made in Brittany in oak casks having contained Monbazillac. The finishing enforces the character and the complexity of the whisky, while developing its smoothness and its balance.

(notes of the producer)
The nose is clearly marked by fruits, with very nice hints of citrus fruit on a minty background. In the palate, a nice freshness, on a malty background but the slightly acid impreessions announced by the nose were not present. The alcohol is present indeed, but not boring at all. A nice long and fruity -(pear, melon) finish. A very nice and complex whisky, with very contrasted impressions.
18/20
Celtic Connexion Monbazillac 1993
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